Review: The Smurfs “Smurf-Fu/Diaper Daddy”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Smurfette teaches the other Smurfs how to do “Smurf-Fu”. Handy Smurf decides to invent a robot that’ll change Baby’s diapers.

Our Take:

They’re blue, they’re tiny, and they’re smurfing back on our television screens! After being reintroduced to the population in two live-action/CGI hybrid films and a fully animated reboot, the lovable Smurfs are ready to take on a brand new set of adventures in their latest television series on Nickelodeon. The show already premiered in Belgium back in April, and now fans in America will get to experience it for themselves this month.

The series, which is based on a comic series by Peyo, takes the approach of having it take place after the events of Smurfs: The Lost Village. It even maintained the same animation style as the 2017 film, which I thought was better than the designs in the live-action adaptations. But are they enough to make this smurfy treat watchable? Of smurfing course.

The series premiere starts with the first episode, “Smurf-Fu”, where Smurfette teaches the other Smurfs “Smurf-Fu” (the Smurf version of kung-fu) after rescuing Brainy from a snake. Unfortunately for them, it isn’t as easy as it looks, as Smurfette pressures them to handle the situations independently through Smurf-Fu. Frustrated, the Smurfs plot to scare Smurfette with a spider and an ogre, resulting in the latter capturing them, forcing Smurfette and the others to rescue them. In addition to its chuckle-worthy slapstick, the episode offered a kid-friendly message about the importance of working together. It’s a cute and charming mini-adventure that showcased Smurfette as a strong independent female character rather than just pure eye candy for the Smurfs.

Its second episode, “Diaper Daddy”, focused on a situation that’s stinkier than an ogre. The story centers on Handy Smurf inventing a robot to change Baby Smurf’s diapers when everyone else refused to do it. When the Diaper Daddy goes berserk and takes Baby hostage, the Smurfs set off to rescue him from the robot menace. The writing in this episode was a bit rough around the edges, especially the unnecessary first appearance of Gargamel (voiced by Mark Irons) and a joke involving changing diapers being a “girl’s job”. However, it did manage to provide another harmless scenario that relied less on the poop jokes and more on the Smurfy charm.

Overall, the first two episodes of The Smurfs are enjoyable enough to kick their way out of their stinkiness. The episodes were able to recapture the charismatic and innocent spirit of the original series through its suitable humor and decent voice cast, even though they may not be as memorable as its previous iteration. The animation, while colorful, can be a bit stiff sometimes regarding the character movements, and the writing was hit-and-miss in some places. Despite those issues, I honestly enjoyed what the new Smurfs series offered, and I hope that the rest of the episodes are also as charming as the lovable blue creatures.